Life of Flavius Josephus, Against Apion, and An Extract Concerning Hades

Within this collection of Josephus' shorter works, the life and thoughts of this first-century Jewish historian and Roman citizen unfold in an informative, methodical way. The autobiography, "e;The Life,"e; is a text originally thought to have been an appendix to his most well-known work, "e;Antiquities of the Jews,"e; for Josephus felt the need to justify his cooperation with the Romans as a Jew just after the First Jewish-Roman War. In the two-volume "e;Against Apion,"e; Josephus defends Judaism as both an ancient religion and a philosophy, particularly in contrast to the more recent customs of the Greeks, or Greco-Romans. He addresses both negative contentions by the Greek writer Apion and myths of Manetho. Finally, Josephus' "e;Discourse to the Greeks"e; includes his thoughts on the afterlife in opposition to the prevailing Greek views of his day. An insightful and observant writer, Josephus's unique position as a Jew in the Roman world of the first century provides a surprising perspective to a time generally studied through the lens of Christianity.